Educational Reform Priorities in Hungary: Prevalence, Gender Differences, and Associations with Teacher Well-Being

Hungarian teachers’ reform priorities remain insufficiently mapped, despite their central role in shaping feasible, evidence-based educational change. In a cross-sectional study with 1254 kindergarten, primary, and secondary teachers across Hungary (May 2025), we elicited and analyzed open-ended written responses in which participants identified their top three required reforms. Responses were segmented and coded into 18 mutually exclusive categories via a validated codebook, and prevalence was calculated using respondent-normalized weights. We then examined demographic, well-being, and personality correlates of reform priorities using χ2 tests, Mann–Whitney tests, and multivariable logistic models with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery correction. Teachers most frequently prioritized competency development and pedagogical reform, followed by curriculum flexibility and system governance. Reform priorities were not random: female teachers were substantially more likely to prioritize inclusion and SEN support, while male teachers more often prioritized governance and depoliticization; older age predicted governance priorities. Lower educational system satisfaction robustly predicted prioritizing curriculum reform, autonomy, and governance restructuring, and anxiety and depression were positively related to curriculum concerns. Conscientiousness predicted prioritizing salary and material recognition. The results indicate that teachers’ reform demands function as systematic, psychologically grounded signals that can guide more targeted, teacher-centerd educational policy in Hungary.